Henri Ducard
'' ''Henri Ducard is a fictional character in the Batman comic book universe. Created by Sam Hamm, Ducard's first appearance was in Detective Comics #599 (April 1989), part of the "Blind Justice" story arc. Sam Hamm was the screenwriter of the 1989 Batman film and was asked by Batman comic editor Denny O'Neil to guest write a story arc in Detective Comics, within the arc he created the character of Henri Ducard. The character was later amalgamated with Ra's al Ghul as the main villain in the film Batman Begins, a reboot of the Batman movie franchise Hamm had helped originate. History Bruce Wayne approaches Henri Ducard for training in Paris, during his early days traveling the world. Ducard, a knowledgeable detective with excellent man hunting skills, imparted much of his knowledge to the young, keen Bruce. Later in the series, it is revealed that Ducard is largely amoral, working for criminals as often as he does the law. He deduces Batman's secret identity, but keeps it to himself, thinking as he leaves that Batman continues to exist because true criminals realize that he distracts the people from the greater crimes by his public battle against lesser crimes. Ducard has also worked with the third Robin, Tim Drake, who went to Paris during his training, as Bruce did. Unlike Bruce, however, Robin only encounters him in passing at the end of his training, in Hong Kong. Appearance in other media Movie appearance Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins merges Henri Ducard with Ra's al Ghul as the film's main antagonist. Ducard pretends to be subservient to a decoy Ra's al Ghul for the first half of the film, until he reveals that he is in fact the real Ra's al Ghul. He is portrayed by Liam Neeson, while his decoy is played by Ken Watanabe. In The Dark Knight Rises, the younger version of Ra's al Ghul is played by Josh Pence. Videogame appearance Liam Neeson reprised his role as Henri Ducard/Ra's al Ghul in 2005 Batman Begins game, in which he plays a role very similar to that in the film. Parodies The Liam Neeson portrayal of Henri Ducard appears in the Robot Chicken episode "Password: Swordfish" voiced by Seth Green. In a segment that parodies Batman Begins, he trains Heimlich to save people who are choking on food. Trivia *In the original draft of the 1989 film Batman, there is a large part of the film concentrating on Bruce traveling abroad and training with Ducard. Bruce would discover Ducard to be a criminal. Ducard was dropped from the original Tim Burton film. The draft was written by Sam Hamm, the screenplay writer of the film. Hamm was eventually invited to write for Batman comics where he incorporated his character into the comics. *In the film Batman Begins, Henri Ducard is the real name of Ra's al Ghul. Category:Amoral Category:Supervillains Category:Batman Villains Category:DC Villains Category:Comic Book Villains Category:Movie Villains Category:Live Action Villains Category:Assassins Category:Cult Leaders Category:Leader Category:Terrorists Category:Male Category:Deceased Category:Fighters Category:Martial Artists Category:Chaotic Neutral Category:Sophisticated Category:On & Off Category:Honorable Category:Parents Category:Alter-Ego Category:Legacy Category:Status Dependent on Version Category:Torturer Category:Affably Evil Category:Related to Hero Category:Necessary Evil Category:Type Dependent on Version Category:Opportunists